Bulky 2-yr-old can't stop hogging!

A two-year-old overweight toddler has become the centre of attraction for the curious onlookers in Nasik.

At a bulky 38 kilos, Aman Sheikh can barely walk, and has to be helped by his parents who lift him up most of the time. Though the child offers a roly-poly sight to visitors, the task of bringing him up is now weighing heavy on his harried parents.

His father Shiekh Nasir is a daily wager who says feeding Aman has now gone beyond his means. The baby eats most of the time when he is awake and uses to scream if he not given food.

Nasir has now devised the bizarre act of exhibiting the baby in an effort to collect funds and food to feed him.

“His weight is around 35-38 kilogram. His food costs us an average of 100-150 rupees (2.2-3.2 US dollars) daily as he drinks at least three litres of milk and one kilo fruits besides other things. But what we spend on him daily is a lot more than what we can manage. I am a daily wager and it's getting tougher for us. We urge the government to provide some facility to help us in his upbringing,” Nasir says.

The child is currently staying at his aunt’s house in the city, though his family hails from Maharashtra’s Jalna district. Nasir was recently banned from exhibiting the baby in Aurangabad district when state officials got wind of the act.

Nasir says nobody has come forward to offer him any help and he is not sure what the future holds for his baby.

The parents of the baby have not gone for any medical tests on their child as he shows no signs of distress. The baby was born on May 15, 2004 and weighed a mere 2.5 kilos at birth. He has since steadily put on weight and in merely one year, weighed at amazing 24 kilos.

Obese children have problems in walking and are rarely active. They sit and walk late than other children and run the risk of obesity in adulthood as well.

Obesity has been recognized as an important risk factor that contributes to the development of many diseases worldwide. According to new studies, obesity in adolescence is associated with reduced heart function and excessive cardiac mass.

The obese -- often defined as weighing 20 percent or more than medically recommended levels -- are also more likely to suffer from chronic medical ailments like diabetes and severe joint problems.